The study of booze with Camper English.

Hooray! I have a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about Irish whiskey. It discusses the popularity of Irish whiskey, some reasons for that popularity, its lack of use in cocktails, a cocktail recipe from Phil Mauro of Rye, and Ireland's three-and-a-half distilleries and their brands.

I was able to get through it without even mentioning St. Patrick's Day. Success!

Michael Short / Special to the Chronicle

Irish Whiskey Spiking in PopularityBy Camper English

When Swig opened near Union Square in 2003, its Irish owners carried every brand of Irish whiskey available in the United States. All five of them.

Nine years later, not only do they carry 32 Irish whiskeys, but their customers are also drinking a lot more of them.

"We've seen a very dramatic increase in the consumption of Irish whiskey," says owner Brian Sheehy. "A lot of the crossover has come from blended scotches, and instead of people asking for well whiskey on the rocks, they're calling their brand."

The phenomenon is by no means limited to Swig. Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing spirit category in the United States, with a 23.6 percent increase in volume sales in 2011 alone, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. It now outsells single-malt scotch.

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Irish Whiskey in the San Francisco Chronicle

Hooray! I have a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about Irish whiskey. It discusses the popularity of Irish whiskey, some reasons for that popularity, its lack of use in cocktails, a cocktail recipe from Phil Mauro of Rye, and Ireland's three-and-a-half distilleries and their brands.

I was able to get through it without even mentioning St. Patrick's Day. Success!

Michael Short / Special to the Chronicle

Irish Whiskey Spiking in PopularityBy Camper English

When Swig opened near Union Square in 2003, its Irish owners carried every brand of Irish whiskey available in the United States. All five of them.

Nine years later, not only do they carry 32 Irish whiskeys, but their customers are also drinking a lot more of them.

"We've seen a very dramatic increase in the consumption of Irish whiskey," says owner Brian Sheehy. "A lot of the crossover has come from blended scotches, and instead of people asking for well whiskey on the rocks, they're calling their brand."

The phenomenon is by no means limited to Swig. Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing spirit category in the United States, with a 23.6 percent increase in volume sales in 2011 alone, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. It now outsells single-malt scotch.

New Booze is a sub-blog of Alcademics. Posts are announcements of new liquor (and occasionally other cocktail-related products) hitting the market.
All information comes from press releases and are not reviews!